Ireland squad finalised for FIBA World Cup Qualifiers against Switzerland and Azerbaijan

Ireland senior men’s head coach Mark Keenan has finalised a squad of 12 players that will compete in two crucial FIBA Basketball World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers against Switzerland and Azerbaijan on Thursday, February 20^th and Sunday February 23^rd respectively.

UCC Demons’ Kyle Hosford - who served as Ireland captain before retiring from international duty in 2022 - has earned a recall after making himself available for selection once more. Hosford proved instrumental from the point as UCC Demons won the Pat Duffy National Cup final in 2024, before leading the club back to the final earlier this January.

Sean Jenkins also returns to the roster after missing November’s wins against Kosovo and Azerbaijan. 

Ireland’s leading scorer in FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Pre-Qualifying Taiwo Badmus misses out on the second window in succession through injury. The Valur Reykjavik forward is joined on the injury list by Joels Dublin Lions’ Aidan Igiehon.

“November’s games at home were must-win if we wanted to keep our qualification hopes alive, so we were delighted to get back-to-back wins against Azerbaijan and Kosovo in front of our home fans, especially missing the likes of Taiwo (Badmus). But we quickly parked that as a group because the job isn’t done,” said Ireland captain Sean Flood. 

The reverse fixture of Thursday’s clash with Switzerland saw Ireland lose out 86-63 in Dublin a year ago, but just a point separated the teams when they met in two friendlies in their previous meetings.

“For us, there’s a familiarity with the Swiss team now,” added Flood. “We’ve played them quite a bit in recent years and they’re a great team with so many threats, but we are also confident in our own ability to go out there and get a positive result in Fribourg on Thursday evening.”

Speaking about his squad, Ireland head coach Mark Keenan is looking forward to continuing the momentum of November this week:

“These final two games in the group stages are massive games for us , as the previous two were in November to keep our qualifying chances alive. We know now we can perform under that extreme pressure. We have put the best team together that we possibly can given the fact that we have some injury casualties. Kyle Hosford comes back into the international scene after some great performances in the superleague for his club UCC Demons. We will need all his experience along with big performances from all our players to get over the line and qualify from the group.

All focus is now on our first game against Switzerland. They have been consistently good during this campaign and we will have to be at our best in order to beat them.

The top team in Group A, Group B and Group C, along with the best ranked, second placed team from the three groups combined, will advance to the second phase of qualifying at the end of this window. Should Ireland finish in second place, results against the bottom placed team in the group will be nullified to determine cross-group standings, as Group B and Group C only have three teams competing.

Ireland currently sits second in Group A with a 2-2 record. Switzerland lead the table unbeaten on 4-0, with Azerbaijan and Kosovo in third and fourth on 1-3 respectively.

---

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Pre-Qualifying Fixtures:

Switzerland v Ireland, Thursday February 20th, Fribourg, 18:30 (Live on TG4 Player)

Azerbaijan v Ireland, Sunday February 23rd, Baku, 13:00 (Live on TG4 Player)

---

Ireland Men's Squad:

Adrian O’Sullivan (Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU), Conor Quinn (Belfast Star), David Lehane, Kyle Hosford, James Hannigan (UCC Demons), John Carroll (EJ Sligo All-Stars), Jordan Blount (Flexachem KCYMS), Matt Treacy (Snaefell, Iceland), Neal Quinn (Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket, France), Rapolas Buivydas (Garveys Tralee Warriors), Seán Flood (London Lions, United Kingdom), Sean Jenkins (Griffith College Éanna),